Recently, lenses for small cameras such as lenses for 8-mm movie cameras and lenses for home VTR cameras have been rapidly developed. Since these optical systems are small in picture size and of movie type, most of them employ zoom lenses. As films and image pickup tubes have been improved in sensitivity, the use of zoom lens having large apertures makes it popular to take pictures in relatively dark places. In order to increase the photographing range, there has been a strong demand for the provision of a zoom lens which is high in zoom ratio, wide in photographing angle and compact.